<p class="bodytext">Then Abraham bowed down with his face to the ground and laughed<n id="1" /> as he said to himself,<n id="2" /> &#8220;Can<n id="3" /> a son be born to a man who is a hundred years old?<n id="4" /> Can Sarah<n id="5" /> bear a child at the age of ninety?&#8221;<n id="6" />

<p class="bodytext">So Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, &#8220;Quick! Take<n id="1" /> three measures<n id="2" /> of fine flour, knead it, and make bread.&#8221;<n id="3" />

One of them<n id="1" /> said, &#8220;I will surely return<n id="2" /> to you when the season comes round again,<n id="3" /> and your wife Sarah will have a son!&#8221;<n id="4" /> (Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, not far behind him.<n id="5" />

<p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> said to Abraham, &#8220;Why<n id="1" /> did Sarah laugh and say, &#8216;Will I really<n id="2" /> have a child when I am old?&#8217;

<p class="bodytext">So the <sc>Lordsc> replied, &#8220;If I find in the city of Sodom fifty godly people, I will spare the whole place for their sake.&#8221;p>

what if there are five less than the fifty godly people? Will you destroy<n id="1" /> the whole city because five are lacking?&#8221;<n id="2" /> He replied, &#8220;I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.&#8221;p>

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;Very well,&#8221; he replied,<n id="1" /> &#8220;I will grant this request too<n id="2" /> and will not overthrow<n id="3" /> the town you mentioned.

Abraham said about his wife Sarah, &#8220;She is my sister.&#8221; So Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent for Sarah and took her.p>

<p class="bodytext">But God appeared<n id="1" /> to Abimelech in a dream at night and said to him, &#8220;You are as good as dead<n id="2" /> because of the woman you have taken, for she is someone else&#8217;s wife.&#8221;<n id="3" />p>

<p class="bodytext">Abraham replied, &#8220;Because I thought,<n id="1" /> &#8216;Surely no one fears God in this place. They will kill me because of<n id="2" /> my wife.&#8217;

<p class="bodytext">At that time Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, said to Abraham, &#8220;God is with you<n id="1" /> in all that you do.

He replied, &#8220;You must take these seven ewe lambs from my hand as legal proof<n id="1" /> that I dug this well.&#8221;<n id="2" />

So he<n id="1" /> said to his servants, &#8220;You two stay<n id="2" /> here with the donkey while<n id="3" /> the boy and I go up there. We will worship<n id="4" /> and then return to you.&#8221;<n id="5" />p>

and said, &#8220;&#8216;I solemnly swear by my own name,&#8217;<n id="1" /> decrees the <sc>Lordsc>,<n id="2" /> &#8216;that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son,

Abraham said to his servant, the senior one<n id="1" /> in his household who was in charge of everything he had, &#8220;Put your hand under my thigh<n id="2" />

He prayed, &#8220;O <sc>Lordsc>, God of my master Abraham, guide me today.<n id="1" /> Be faithful<n id="2" /> to my master Abraham.

&#8220;Whose daughter are you?&#8221; he asked.<n id="1" /> &#8220;Tell me, is there room in your father&#8217;s house for us to spend the night?&#8221;p>

He answered, &#8216;The <sc>Lordsc>, before whom I have walked,<n id="1" /> will send his angel with you. He will make your journey a success and you will find a wife for my son from among my relatives, from my father&#8217;s family.

and asked<n id="1" /> Abraham&#8217;s servant,<n id="2" /> &#8220;Who is that man walking in the field toward us?&#8221; &#8220;That is my master,&#8221; the servant replied.<n id="3" /> So she took her veil and covered herself.p>

and the <sc>Lordsc> said to her,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Two nations<n id="1" /> are in your womb,p> <p class="poetry">and two peoples will be separated from within you.p> <p class="poetry">One people will be stronger than the other,p> <p class="poetry">and the older will serve the younger.&#8221;p>